Concatenating messages from multiple sources in a notification system

ABSTRACT

A method for sending messages within notifications to a recipient is disclosed. The method includes receiving information related to at least one recipient and receiving a selection of at least two messages from a plurality of messages. The method also includes associating the at least one recipient with the at least two messages, and transmitting at least one notification to the at least one recipient, the at least one notification comprising the at least two messages. A system for sending messages within notifications to a recipient is also provided.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present disclosure relates to transmission of notifications, andmore particularly, to methods and systems for concatenatingnotifications in a notification system.

2. Background

Businesses and governmental entities, including municipalities andschools, are ever more reliant on communicating through the masstransmission of notifications to their staff, citizens and familymembers of students to keep these constituencies apprized of importantevents, including emergencies and commerce. For example, a schoolprincipal might need to send a message to the parent of every studentthat the school will be immediately closed due to flooding, fire, orblizzard. Notifications with such messages might be sent by telephones,facsimiles, pagers, electronic mail (e-mail), and/or text messages.These notifications will typically vary in their degree of importance,in the number of recipients, and in the immediacy with which they mustbe received.

However, there currently exists a growing problem as mass notificationtransmission systems become more prevalent. In particular, the personnelresponsible for the oversight (e.g., command and control) of variousnotifications typically do not know either what personnel within theirown organization or personnel at other institutions and agencies may becommunicating with the same message recipient, and with whatinformation. In many such situations, messages about the same incidentand to the same people are issued from different users and/or differentsources. For example, a local police department might need to informresidents of a city that the next day's snowfall will require cars to beremoved from the street for plowing. A fire department might need toinform residents of the city that the snowfall will be bringing extremecold and that residents without heat in their homes should go to ashelter. Both messages may concern the same areas in the city. Asanother example, a ninth grade history teacher might need to inform astudent's parents that a student was absent to history class, and aninth grade art teacher might also need to inform the student's parentsthat the student was absent to art class.

In such situations, multiple notifications will be sent to the samerecipient, often with the same or similar message in each notification.It would be desirable to deliver these messages in a uniform andefficient manner.

SUMMARY

There is a need for an appropriate notification system that associatesmessages from different sources and/or different user intended for arecipient and delivers them to the recipient in a uniform and efficientmanner. Embodiments of the disclosed systems and methods address thisand other needs.

The present disclosure describes systems and methods whereby messagesfrom different users and/or different sources and intended for a singlerecipient may be jointly delivered to the recipient, who may use variousdifferent devices to receive the notification.

In certain aspects of the disclosure, a method for sending messageswithin notifications to a recipient is provided. The method includesreceiving information related to at least one recipient and receiving aselection of at least two messages from a plurality of messages. Themethod also includes associating the at least one recipient with the atleast two messages, and transmitting at least one notification to the atleast one recipient, the at least one notification comprising the atleast two messages.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, a system for sending messageswithin notifications to a recipient is provided. The system includes arecipient module configured to store information related to at least onerecipient, and a messaging module configured to store a plurality ofmessages. The system also includes an association module configured toassociate the at least one recipient with at least two messages from theplurality of messages, and a transmission module configured to transmitat least one notification to the at least one recipient, the at leastone notification comprising the at least two messages.

In yet a further aspect of the disclosure, a machine-readable mediumencoded with instructions for sending messages within notifications to arecipient is provided. The instructions include receiving informationrelated to at least one recipient, and receiving a selection of at leasttwo messages from a plurality of messages. The instructions also includeassociating the at least one recipient with the at least two messages,and transmitting at least one notification to the at least onerecipient, the at least one notification comprising the at least twomessages.

In another aspect of the disclosure, a system for sending messageswithin notifications to a recipient is provided. The system includesmeans for receiving information related to at least one recipient andmeans for receiving a selection of at least two messages from aplurality of messages. The system also includes means for associatingthe at least one recipient with the at least two messages and means fortransmitting at least one notification to the at least one recipient,the at least one notification comprising the at least two messages.

It is understood that other configurations of the subject technologywill become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from thefollowing detailed description, wherein various configurations of thesubject technology are shown and described by way of illustration. Aswill be realized, the subject technology is capable of other anddifferent configurations and its several details are capable ofmodification in various other respects, all without departing from thescope of the subject technology. Accordingly, the drawings and detaileddescription are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not asrestrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a mass notificationtransmission system.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of the mass notificationtransmission system of FIG. 1 for concatenating messages from multiplesources.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of notification data thatcan be stored within the CPU of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a diagram further illustrating the example notification dataof FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary operation of combiningmultiple messages into a single notification.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computer systemupon which multiple messages can be concatenated into a singlenotification.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

There is a problem in mass notification systems of a recipient beingsent, from different users at the same source and/or different usersfrom different sources, multiple messages in separate notificationsrelating to one or multiple events. This and other problems areaddressed and solved, at least in part, by embodiments of the presentdisclosure which include a system for sending messages within anotification to a recipient. The system includes a recipient moduleconfigured to store information related to at least one recipient, and amessaging module configured to store a plurality of messages. The systemalso includes an association module configured to associate the at leastone recipient with at least two messages from the plurality of messages,and a transmission module configured to transmit at least onenotification to the at least one recipient, the at least onenotification comprising the at least two messages.

With reference to the drawings, which are provided by way ofexemplification and not limitation, there are disclosed embodiments fordisseminating a mass of outgoing digital notifications to a selectedgroup, or groups, of recipients by way of various communication methods.More specifically, the creation of individual notifications includingone or many messages for a mass of recipients is disclosed. As discussedherein, a notification is an instance of communication that includes atleast one message. As an example, a single notification might includeone message: “please avoid Main Street.” As another example, a singlenotification might include two messages: “please clear your brush beforefire season,” and “please contact your local fire department for furtherdetails.” A notification is the communication itself, such as a phonecall, a text message, an email, etc.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a mass notificationtransmission system. For the following description, only one initiatorof a notification is initially described in order to explain how asingle notification is processed. However, the present disclosure willalso describe the concatenation of messages from a single initiator ormultiple initiators.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, a CPU or central processing unit 26 forms acore component of the system. The CPU 26 is preconfigured to receive anotification from a user 22 of the system who may wish to act as aninitiator by sending that notification to a large number of recipients60, 62, 64, and 66. The user 22 will have normally acquired the right tosend a notification into the CPU 26 by earlier entering into a contractwith the management of the system, entering his name on a list oflegitimate users, paying the required fee if appropriate, and acquiringan entry code. The notification the user 22 sends to the CPU 26 may besent in any one of a number of different formats via a transmissioninterface 24. It should be noted that a system administrator 30 may alsosend a notification via a different transmission interface 28. Forexample, the transmission interface 24 and/or 28 may be an ordinary landtelephone, a radio transmitter, a cell phone, a computer for sendingemail, a computer with an internet connection, or it may be a facsimilemachine for sending faxes, or the like.

Using the example discussed above, a message included in a notificationmight be: “Please clear your brush before fire season.” The selectedrecipients might be a group of residents who live within a fire zone.The time and date to send might be a pre-set window between “4:00 PM”and “7:00 PM” and “tonight,” respectively, and the methods oftransmission to recipients selected by the user might include telephoneand e-mail delivery. These choices are exemplary only.

Once the notification is received by the CPU 26 from the user 22, it isstored by the CPU 26 as a notification file 32 in a local or remotememory associated with the CPU 26. The notification file 32, thatincludes the message, may be associated with a transmission data file 34for later use, as set forth more fully below. If the notificationreceived is an ordinary voice notification via an interface 24 which isa telephone, the analogue voice signal may be converted to a digitalsound file such as a .wav file and stored by the CPU 26 as such. If thenotification received via the interface 24 is an email, it may be storedby the CPU 26 as a .txt file, but it may also be converted to a soundfile using text-to-speech (TTS) software. If the notification isreceived as a facsimile, it may be stored by the CPU 26 as a .pdf file.Such file formats are exemplary only. All of these notifications arestored pending distribution to the appropriate recipients in theappropriate form.

Once the notification file 32 is stored by the CPU 26, it is associatedwith the transmission data file 34 that is structured to include one ormore of a number of data sets 36-44 that will later assist incontrolling the transmission of the notification file 32. For example,the user 22 may insert information into the data sets 36-44 by enteringkeystrokes (telephone key, computer key, cell phone pad key, etc.) inresponse to queries from the CPU as to what information should beentered in the data sets 36-44. The data sets 36-44 will then beassociated with the notification file 32, as described.

The data sets 36-44 may comprise the following data sets. A time set 36contains information relating to the time the notification is scheduledfor distribution. A recipient set 38 contains information relating tothe class of recipients the notification is intended to reach. Forexample, the recipients may be all the parents of students at a schoolbetween 6th and 8th grades. A location set 40 contains informationrelating to the geographical locations the notification is intended toreach. For example, the intended recipients may be all the residents inan area of town bounded by the river to the North, Main St. to theSouth, 3^(rd) Ave. to the East and Elm St. to the West, or a 5 milestretch of homes next to a forest at risk of wildfires. Further datasets may be generated from information provided in preceding sets. Forexample, a number set 42 may be generated by the CPU 26 from theinformation entered into the recipient set 38, wherein the CPU 26calculates the number of intended recipients of the notification, andenters that number into the number set 42 for later use.

A sender identity set 44 may contain the identity of the user 22 whocreated the notification, and information relating to the status andrights of that user 22. The status and rights of the user 22 would beobtained based on the code entered by the user 22 to access the CPU 26in order to leave the notification. For example, the user identity set44 may indicate that the user 22 is the principal of a school who wouldlegitimately want to reach a large audience of parents of students atthe school. Alternatively, the user identity set 44 may indicate thatthe user is a teacher of 8th grade, who would typically want to reachonly the parents of students in her 8th grade class, or perhaps all the8th grade students in the school, but whose legitimate interest wouldnot include communicating with the parents of all the students at aschool.

As noted above, the notification 32 may be created in a plurality offormats (e.g., .wav, .txt, or .pdf). For example, the notification 32may be created in at least one format, based on whether the notificationis received via interface 24 as a voice notification, an email or afacsimile. Once the notification 32 is created in the appropriateplurality of formats (e.g., .wav, .txt, or .pdf) and is associated withthe transmission data file 34 with its data sets, the CPU 26 stores thenotification and associated data file in a delivery interface 46. Thedelivery interface 46 is configured to hold the notification in storage48 until a triggering event occurs, as more fully described below.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, delivery interface 46 mayinclude storage unit 48, which may store information includingnotification data 50, sender data 52, and recipient data 54. Forexample, in the context of school, storage unit 48 may be configured toinclude at least the following fields for each student: “Parent Name,”“Student Name,” “User 1,” and “Message 1.” With particular relevance tothe present disclosure, notification data 50 may include a singlemessage or multiple messages. To obtain information referred to byfields of transmission data file 34, delivery interface 46 may accessthe appropriate data from storage unit 48. For example, if recipient set38 identifies the recipients as all parents of students at a schoolbetween 6th and 8th grades, the parent contact information for all 6thand 8th grade students can be accessed from storage unit 48. It shouldbe noted that the storing of notification data 50, sender data 52 andrecipient data 54 is not limited to storage unit 48, and that this datamay be stored elsewhere in CPU 26 or in other external systems.

Within the delivery interface 46 in the CPU, each recipient of thenotification 32 has already been associated with a form of transmissionaccording to a prior request made by each potential recipient to themanagement of the system. Thus, for example, recipient 60 may haverequested to be associated with a form of transmission by facsimile,recipient 62 may be associated with a form of transmission by voicemail,recipient 64 may be associated with a form of transmission by e-mail,recipient 66 may be associated with a means of transmission by textmessage, or pager, and so on. Thus, the CPU 26 is configured to transmitthe notification 32 in appropriate format (e.g. .wav, .txt, .pdf) toeach recipient, according to a known method. In certain embodiments, ameans of transmission may be associated with the recipient based on aselection made by the user 22. For example, a user may choose toassociate a recipient with voicemail if the notification 32 is urgent.In certain embodiments, a means of transmission may be automaticallyassociated with the recipient based on the content of the notification32. For example, if the notification 32 includes an image, then means oftransmission may be facsimile, email or Multimedia Messaging Service(MMS).

When a triggering event occurs, the delivery interface 46 causes one ormany notifications 32 (having been delivered to the computer system 26by an enabled user 22 possessing an appropriate access code) to bedistributed, according to known methods, to a mass of recipients, e.g.recipients 60-66 of FIG. 1, identified by the user 22. Suchnotifications 32 may be combined with numerous similar notifications(e.g., in a notification batch) for mass transmission at approximatelythe same time. This capability of the system places power in the handsof an institution or group of people to keep classes of citizensinformed of events that are directly relevant to them as those eventsoccur.

Considering further aspects of the disclosed systems and methods, anexemplary problem that may be encountered will now be described. A firstnotification batch may include, for example, five separatenotifications, each containing one message, that would all be sentseparately to each of the recipients in prior systems. Each of the fivemessages may be from the same source or from different sources. This isan undesirable situation, especially if the notifications aredistributed via telephone, where in the example each recipient wouldreceive five separate telephone calls, each call containing a singlemessage. In a mass notification transmission system such as the oneillustrated in FIG. 1, it may be desirable for multiple messagesintended for a single recipient to be concatenated (e.g., combined orassociated) into a single notification. Returning to the previousexample, according to the present disclosure, each recipient wouldinstead receive a single telephone call notification including all fivemessages. As another example, according to the present disclosure, arecipient can receive a single telephone call notification that includestwo separate survey messages in which the recipient may respond tosurvey questions, such as questions that relate to updating therecipient's profile in separate electronic data systems, correspondingto the two survey messages, owned by a common company. Thus, anefficient method and system for concatenating messages into a singlenotification is provided.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of the mass notificationtransmission system of FIG. 1 for concatenating messages from multiplesources. A source may include, for example, multiple users, such thatsystem is configured for concatenating messages from multiple users atthe same source in addition to concatenating messages from users atdifferent sources.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, CPU 26 includes a transmissions interface 206,an associations module 208, and the delivery interface 46. The systemfurther includes a transmissions interface 25, a first informationsource 202 for the first user 22, and a second information source 203for a second user 23.

The first information source 202 and the second information source 203each store predetermined messages (e.g., “please clear your brush beforefire season”) that may be selected to be sent to a recipient. The firstinformation source 202 and the second information source 203 can beedited to add or remove messages. The messages may be stored in anyformat, including audio and text formats. The first information source202 and the second information source 203 may be any software orhardware structure used for the collection of data, such as, forexample, a database.

Both the first information source 202 and the second information source203 include a list of potential recipients for the messages. Forexample, the information sources 202 and 203 could include informationon recipients 60, 62, 64, and 66. The first information source 202 andthe second information source 203 can be edited to add or removerecipient entries. For example, the information sources 202 and 203could individually or jointly add information on a new recipient, JohnDoe, capable of receiving a notification. The first information source202 and the second information source 203 are also configured toassociate messages with recipients. For example, new recipient John Doecan be selected to receive the message “Main Street is closed due toemergency repair.” The first information source 202 and the secondinformation source 203 can associate a single message with a singlerecipient (e.g., recipient John Doe receives a single message in anotification), multiple messages with a single recipient (e.g.,recipient John Doe receives multiple messages in a notification), ormultiple messages with multiple recipients (e.g., both recipient JohnDoe and other recipients receives multiples messages in a notification).Associations between messages and recipients may be created usingmethods known to those with skill in the art, such as, for example,metadata tags. For example, as illustrated with respect to the firstinformation source 202, a data structure indicative of an intendedrecipient 212, such as a data structure indicative of the recipient'stelephone number, may be tagged with several tags 214, where each tag isindicative of a message.

In certain embodiments, the first information source 202 and secondinformation source 203 may be located on the same network. In certainembodiments, the first information source 202 may be located on a firstnetwork and the second information source 203 may be located on a secondnetwork remote from the first network. For example, the firstinformation source 202 may be local to CPU 26, such as a server locatedon the network of an administrative office of a city government, whilethe second information source 203 may be remote to CPU 26, and may be,for example, a server located on the network of a fire station for thecity.

The transmission interface 206 and the transmission interface 25 aresimilar to the transmission interface 24, and may be, for example, anordinary land telephone, a radio transmitter, a cell phone, a computerfor sending email, a computer with an internet connection, a modem, adata communications device, or it may be a facsimile machine for sendingfaxes, or the like. The transmissions interface 206 is configured toreceive a selection of at least one message for at least one recipientfrom at least one user, and is further advantageously configured toreceive selections of multiple messages for multiple recipients frommultiple users. For example, the transmissions interface 206 canreceive, via transmissions interface 24, a selection of messages fromthe first user 22 for a first recipient, and can simultaneously receive,via transmissions interface 25, a selection of messages from the seconduser 23 for the first recipient.

The associations module 208 is configured to process (e.g., concatenateor combine) the messages, from multiple users and multiple sources,associated with recipients into notifications that include the messagesfor those recipients. For example, two messages from the first user 22for a recipient 60 and a third message from the second user 23 for therecipient 60 may be processed by associations module 208 into a singlenotification 32 to be distributed to the recipient 60 at a selectedtime. Once the notification 32 is created, it is stored in the deliveryinterface 46 and later distributed, as discussed above. The associationsmodule 208 is further configured to remove or not include duplicatemessages that were selected for delivery to a recipient. For example, ifa first user (e.g., a member of an administrative office of a citygovernment) and a second user (e.g., an employee of the fire departmentfor the city) from different sources independently select a message(e.g., “Main street is closed due to inclement weather conditions”) todeliver to a recipient (e.g., a resident of the city), the associationsmodule 208 will advantageously remove any duplicate occurrence of themessage so that the recipient receives the message only once. Theassociations module 208 is configured to distinguish between removableduplicate messages and seemingly duplicate messages which should bekept. By way of another example, if a first user (e.g., a student'sfirst period teacher) and a second user (e.g., the student's secondperiod teacher) from the same source independently select a message(e.g., “The student is performing well in class”) to deliver to arecipient (e.g., the student's parents), the associations module 208will advantageously identify that the messages, although the same, areassociated with different users and therefore should be kept so that therecipient receives both messages in a notification. Hence, removableduplicate messages will not be concatenated within the notification tothe recipient, while other duplicate messages (e.g., messages fromdifferent users) will be concatenated within the notification to therecipient.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of notification data thatcan be stored within CPU 26 of FIGS. 1-2. As noted above, CPU 26 (e.g.,storage unit 48) may include notification data 50, sender data 52, andrecipient data 54. In the example of FIG. 3, notification data 50 maycorrespond with student and/or parent recipients, with data fieldsincluding (but not limited to) “Parent Name” 302, “Student Name” 304, afield for a first user, “User 1” 306, fields for messages from the firstuser, “Message 1” 308 and “Message 2” 310, a field for a second user,“User 2” 312, fields for messages from the second user, “Message 3” 314,and so on. This data may be stored in text format, audio format, othermedia formats, or combinations thereof. Such configuration of data inCPU 26 may allow for the distribution of multiple messages fromdifferent sources (e.g., different users with different predeterminedinformation sources) within the same notification data 50 of a singlenotification 32. For example, if several teachers want to send audiomessages (e.g., via telephone, email attachment) of a student'sperformance in their classes, each teacher may include messages relatedto that student's performance as part of the notification data 50. Anexample of concatenating messages from multiple sources into a singlenotification is illustrated in FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of concatenating messagesfrom multiple sources into a single notification. As described abovewith reference to FIG. 2, a first user 22 and a second user 23 mayselect messages from their respective information sources, firstinformation source 202 and second information source 203, fordistribution to a single recipient via their respective transmissionsinterfaces, transmissions interface 24 and transmissions interface 25.Although not illustrated, the first user 22 and the second user 23 mayalso select messages from the same information source for distribution.The selections of the first user 22 and the second user 23 are receivedby the associations module 208 through the transmissions interface 206of the CPU 26. The associations module 208 can then process theselections to create notification data 50 that includes all of themessages from the first user 22 and the second user 23, which is thenincluded in a single notification 32. In the example of FIG. 4, if thefirst user 306 is a first teacher, John Smith, at a school that hasselected two messages, “participation has improved” 308 (message 1) and“discipline has improved greatly” 310 (message 2), to send to a parent302, Jeff Doe, regarding the performance of his child, James Doe, in thefirst teacher's class at the school, and the second user 312 is a secondteacher, Barbara Jones, at the school that has selected one message,“teamwork has improved” 314 (message 3), regarding the student'sperformance in the second teacher's class at the school, theassociations module 208 can generate the following notification:

This notification is for Jeff Doe [<PARENT NAME, 302>]. Your child JamesDoe [<STUDENT NAME, 304>] has received the following teacher messages.John Smith [<USER 1, 306>] says: participation has improved [<MESSAGE 1,308>], discipline has improved greatly [<MESSAGE 2, 310>]. Barbara Jones[<USER 2, 312>] says: teamwork has improved [<MESSAGE 3, 314>].

As can be seen in FIG. 4, a single notification distributed to arecipient (e.g., <PARENT NAME, 302>) can include multiple messages(e.g., <MESSAGE 1, 308>, <MESSAGE 2, 310>, and <MESSAGE 3, 314>) frommultiple sources (e.g., <USER 1, 306>and <USER 2, 312>). The example ofFIG. 4 relates to a school and parent environment, but the presentdisclosure is not limited to such environment, as the other examplesdemonstrate. The presently disclosed systems and methods may be used inmany different environments.

Having set forth by example in FIG. 4 a process by which multiplemessages from multiple sources are presented in a single notification,FIG. 5 shows this process in general form. More specifically, FIG. 5 isa flow chart illustrating an exemplary process of combining multiplemessages into a single notification.

The process proceeds for a first user from beginning step 501 to step502 in which a message is selected to send. Next, in step 503, eitherone or multiple recipients are selected to receive the message. In step504, the message is associated with the selected recipient orrecipients. Next, in decision step 505, if there are additional messagesto associate with a recipient or recipients, the process returns to step502. Otherwise, the process proceeds to decision step 511. A similarprocess occurs in steps 506 to 510 for another user. The other user mayuse the same information source as the first user or a differentinformation source. Steps 506 to 510 may occur independently from steps501 to 505 or may be dependent on steps 501 to 505. Steps 506 to 510 mayoccur in parallel to steps 501 to 505, or may occur either before orafter steps 501 to 505. In certain embodiments, steps similar to steps501 to 505 and steps 506 to 510 can be generated for other users in theprocess.

In decision step 511, if multiple messages have not been selected forthe same recipient or recipients, the process moves to step 512 in whicha single notification is created for each recipient, where eachnotification contains the single message selected for the recipient. If,however, in decision step 511, multiple messages have been selected forthe same recipient, whether from a single user or multiple users, thenin step 513 the selected messages are combined into a singlenotification for each of the selected recipients. In decision step 514,if there are no duplicate messages within a notification for arecipient, the process moves to step 516. If, however, there areduplicate messages within a notification for a recipient, then duplicatemessages are removed from the notification in step 515. Notificationsare then distributed in step 516 to each of the selected recipients. Theprocess ends in step 517.

Having set forth in FIG. 5 a process by which multiple messages frommultiple sources are presented in a single notification, an example willnow be presented using the process of FIG. 5, where the first user is arepresentative from a city's police department (hereinafter “policerepresentative”) and the second user is a representative from the city'sfire department (hereinafter “fire representative”).

The process proceeds for the police representative from beginning step501 to step 502 in which the police representative selects to send amessage “Please remove parked cars from Main Street for snow plowingtomorrow.” Next, in step 503, the police representative selects to sendthe message to Recipient 160 (from FIG. 2). In step 504, the message“Please remove parked cars from Main Street for snow plowing tomorrow,”is associated with Recipient 160. Next, in decision step 505, the policerepresentative decides to send another message to Recipient 160, so theprocess returns to step 502. In step 502, the police representativeselects to send another message, “Snowfall will be bringing extremecold; residents without heat in their homes should go to a shelter,” andselects Recipient 160 in step 503 to receive the message. In step 504,the message “Snowfall will be bringing extreme cold; residents withoutheat in their homes should go to a shelter,” is then also associatedwith Recipient 160. The police representative decides there are noadditional messages to associate with any recipients in step 505.

Approximately contemporaneously in this example, the fire representativeproceeds from beginning step 506 to step 507 in which the firerepresentative also selects to send a message “Snowfall will be bringingextreme cold; residents without heat in their homes should go to ashelter.” Next, in step 503, the fire representative also selects tosend the message to Recipient 160. In step 504, the message “Snowfallwill be bringing extreme cold; residents without heat in their homesshould go to a shelter” is associated with Recipient 160. Next, indecision step 505, the fire representative decides there are noadditional messages to associate with any recipients in step 505, andthe process moves to decision step 511. When both users have decidedthat there are no additional messages to associate with any recipients,the process moves to decision step 511.

In step 511, the process determines there are multiple messages (i.e.,“Please remove parked cars from Main Street for snow plowing tomorrow,”and “Snowfall will be bringing extreme cold; residents without heat intheir homes should go to a shelter,” from the police representative, and“Snowfall will be bringing extreme cold; residents without heat in theirhomes should go to a shelter,” from the fire representative) for thesame recipient, Recipient 160. Consequently, the process moves to step513 in which the three messages from the two users for single recipient,Recipient 160, are combined into a single notification. In decision step514, it is determined that the notification includes duplicate messages,the message “Snowfall will be bringing extreme cold; residents withoutheat in their homes should go to a shelter,” from the both the policerepresentative and fire representative. The process moves to step 515,in which the “Snowfall will be bringing extreme cold; residents withoutheat in their homes should go to a shelter,” message from the policerepresentative is removed. In certain other embodiments, the “Snowfallwill be bringing extreme cold; residents without heat in their homesshould go to a shelter,” message from the fire representative isremoved. Next, in step 516, a single notification containing the message“Please remove parked cars from Main Street for snow plowing tomorrow,”from the police representative and the message “Snowfall will bebringing extreme cold; residents without heat in their homes should goto a shelter,” from the fire representative is distributed to Recipient1 60. The process then ends in step 517.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system 600 uponwhich an embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented inaccordance with one aspect of the present disclosure. Computer system600 includes a bus 608 or other communication mechanism forcommunicating information, and a processor 602 coupled with bus 608 forprocessing information. Computer system 600 also includes a memory 610,such as a random access memory (“RAM”) or other dynamic storage device,coupled to bus 608 for storing information and instructions to beexecuted by processor 602. Memory 610 may also be used for storingtemporary variable or other intermediate information during execution ofinstructions to be executed by processor 602. Computer system 600further includes a data storage device 606, such as a magnetic disk oroptical disk, coupled to bus 608 for storing information andinstructions.

Computer system 600 may be coupled via I/O module 604 to a displaydevice, such as a cathode ray tube (“CRT”) or liquid crystal display(“LCD”) for displaying information to a computer user. An input device,such as, for example, a keyboard or a mouse may also be coupled tocomputer system 600 via I/O module 604 for communicating information andcommand selections to processor 602.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the transmission ofnotifications may be implemented using a computer system 600 in responseto processor 602 executing one or more sequences of one or moreinstructions contained in memory 610. Such instructions may be read intomemory 610 from another machine-readable medium, such as data storagedevice 606. Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in mainmemory 610 causes processor 602 to perform the process steps describedherein. One or more processors in a multi-processing arrangement mayalso be employed to execute the sequences of instructions contained inmemory 610. In alternative embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be usedin place of or in combination with software instructions to implementvarious embodiments of the present disclosure. Thus, embodiments of thepresent disclosure are not limited to any specific combination ofhardware circuitry and software.

The term “machine-readable medium” as used herein refers to any mediumthat participates in providing instructions to processor 602 forexecution. Such a medium may take many forms, including, but not limitedto, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks, suchas data storage device 606. Volatile media include dynamic memory, suchas memory 606. Transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire,and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise bus 608.Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic or light waves,such as those generated during radio frequency and infrared datacommunications. Common forms of machine-readable media include, forexample, floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, anyother magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punchcards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, aRAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH EPROM, any other memory chip orcartridge, a carrier wave, or any other medium from which a computer canread.

Those of skill in the art would appreciate that the various illustrativeblocks, modules, elements, components, methods, and algorithms describedherein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, orcombinations of both. Furthermore, these may be partitioned differentlythan what is described. To illustrate this interchangeability ofhardware and software, various illustrative blocks, modules, elements,components, methods, and algorithms have been described above generallyin terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality isimplemented as hardware or software depends upon the particularapplication and design constraints imposed on the overall system.Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varyingways for each particular application.

It is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps or blocksin the processes disclosed is an illustration of exemplary approaches.Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific orderor hierarchy of steps or blocks in the processes may be rearranged. Theaccompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in asample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order orhierarchy presented.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the various aspects described herein. Variousmodifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to theaspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistentwith the language claims, wherein reference to an element in thesingular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specificallyso stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically statedotherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. Pronouns in themasculine (e.g., his) include the feminine and neuter gender (e.g., herand its) and vice versa. All structural and functional equivalents tothe elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosurethat are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill inthe art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intendedto be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein isintended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether suchdisclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is tobe construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. §112, sixth paragraph,unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or,in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase“step for.”

1. A system for sending messages within notifications to a recipient,comprising: a recipient module configured to store information relatedto at least one recipient; a messaging module configured to store aplurality of messages; an association module configured to associate theat least one recipient with at least two messages from the plurality ofmessages; and a transmission module configured to transmit at least onenotification to the at least one recipient, the at least onenotification comprising the at least two messages.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the messaging module is configured to obtain theplurality of messages from a plurality of information sources.
 3. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the at least two messages are selected by auser.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein one message of the at least twomessages is selected by a first user, and the other message of the atleast two messages is selected by a second user, the second user beingdifferent than the first user.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein theassociation module is configured to associate the at least one recipientwith at least three messages from the plurality of messages, the atleast three messages comprising a duplicate message, and wherein theassociation module is further configured to remove the duplicate messagefrom the at least one notification.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein atleast one of the plurality of messages is editable.
 7. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the notification is in at least one of audio format ortext format.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of messagesare in at least one of audio format or text format.
 9. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the transmission module is configured to transmit thenotification using at least one of electronic messaging, radio frequencycommunication, and telephone communication.
 10. The system of claim 1,wherein all of the messages associated with the at least one recipientare provided in a single notification to the at least one recipient. 11.The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of messages are stored in aplurality of messaging modules.
 12. A method for sending messages withinnotifications to a recipient, comprising: receiving information relatedto at least one recipient; receiving a selection of at least twomessages from a plurality of messages; associating the at least onerecipient with the at least two messages; and transmitting at least onenotification to the at least one recipient, the at least onenotification comprising the at least two messages.
 13. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the plurality of messages are received from aplurality of information sources.
 14. The method of claim 11, whereinthe at least two messages are selected by a user.
 15. The method ofclaim 11, wherein one message of the at least two messages is selectedby a first user, and the other message of the at least two messages isselected by a second user, the second user being different than thefirst user.
 16. The method of claim 11, further comprising: associatingthe at least one recipient with at least three messages from theplurality of messages, the at least three messages comprising aduplicate message; and removing the duplicate message from the at leastone notification.
 17. The method of claim 11, wherein at least one ofthe plurality of messages is editable.
 18. The method of claim 11,wherein the notification is in at least one of audio format or textformat.
 19. The method of claim 11, wherein the plurality of messagesare in at least one of audio format or text format.
 20. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the at least one notification is transmitted using atleast one of electronic messaging, radio frequency communication, andtelephone communication.
 21. The method of claim 11, wherein all of themessages associated with the at least one recipient are provided in asingle notification to the at least one recipient.
 22. Amachine-readable medium encoded with instructions for sending messageswithin notifications to a recipient, the instructions comprising codefor: receiving information related to at least one recipient; receivinga selection of at least two messages from a plurality of messages;associating the at least one recipient with the at least two messages;and transmitting at least one notification to the at least onerecipient, the at least one notification comprising the at least twomessages.
 23. A system for sending messages within notifications to arecipient, comprising: means for receiving information related to atleast one recipient; means for receiving a selection of at least twomessages from a plurality of messages; means for associating the atleast one recipient with the at least two messages; and means fortransmitting at least one notification to the at least one recipient,the at least one notification comprising the at least two messages.